A huge thank you to guest blogger, Armando X. Lopez, who now has me drooling for pizza that I hope to taste soon. Note, this is not a sponsored post, this is a personal review by Mr. Lopez.

Have you ever wished that you could taste that one food from that now defunct eatery of your youth? You remember the aroma, the texture and the scintillating taste of that dish that you search for as you sample similar dishes across the city, state and country. Well tonight, I was in Nirvana!

I opened up a box and allowed my wife and my daughter to pull out the first pieces of a large pepperoni pizza. I picked up my slice, took a deep sniff of the pizza and my mind flew back to Laredo in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. There are many Laredoans who remember Wizzard Wicks Pizzeria located on Saunders. Talk to them and they will tell you that there has been no pizza like the one served in the backyard patio of that establishment.

Well tonight, when I bit into my sumptuous slice, my taste buds partied like it was 1969! Let the reminiscing begin.

With one bite, I was reliving special moments with my mom and dad when my hungry brothers and I would sit on wooden picnic tables in great anticipation of pizza feast. The scent of baking pizzas would drive us wild as we sat with cold Frosty root beers in our hands, waiting for the pizzas that my mother would apportion to us on white paper plates. The banana trees surrounded by the hue of yellow light bulbs and the bamboo shoots covering the fence made us forget that we were in old Laredo.

Every bite brought forth a different memory. There were those nights on Salinas avenue where my brothers Steve, Mike and Goyo waited along with my cousin Arturo and our “adopted” brother Jose Alfaro for the delivery of the a Wizzard Wick pizza. We sat outside my house drinking soda pop purchased at the neighborhood Carlos Puente grocery store waiting for the white delivery vehicle with sign hooked on the car rooftop. To pass the time we jammed to Santana and Chicago tunes as we awaited the pizza. Once it arrived, we divided the pieces equally and scarfed down our tasty treat.

My wife and her friends spent many an evening in the ambience of Laredo’s only pizza joint passing the night away in the warm Laredo weather.

I was so thankful that someone had alerted me that Wizzard Wick’s had a Facebook page. I read testimonials of people vowing for the authenticity of pizza that they had tasted and posting their special WW memories. I obtained a telephone number from the Facebook page and hooked up with Eric Wickstrom at (956) 754-5606. Eric found the family recipe and has been baking these at his home much to the enjoyment of those who remember this delicacy.

When I picked up my pizza, I told Eric that my parents had made the Wizzard Wicks’ experience a fond family heirloom. I thought I would never taste a pizza like this again. The cheese, spices and pepperoni were like they were back then. When I commented on how even the crust had the braiding that gave the pizza it’s distinctive look, Eric said that he had been raised on perfecting that touch. All I can say is that Wizzard Wicks lives!

And tonight I went back to a time and place that I thought I would never visit again. Give Wizzard Wicks a call. It will be an experience in time travel.

3 Responses to If You Bake It, They Will Come

Paul and I purchased three large pepperoni and mushroom pizzas from Eric “the Wizzard Wick” Wickstrom last Friday night for the enjoyment of our classmate friends during a Nixon Class of ’72 Reunion Meeting we hosted. It was the best meeting ever!!! The Wizzard Wicks pizza was exactly as we remembered it. For many of us, it was the first pizza we’d ever eaten, so it was a “Blast from the Past”!! We highly recommend it!